Description (Taken from Goodreads):
It’s Wes Anderson meets Holden Caufield in this wry and funny novel about a boy who is sent to live with his uncle when his father (a bestselling self-help author) dies.

James “Hercules” Martino has until the end of the summer (a.k.a. two weeks) to accomplish the twelve tasks given to him by his Uncle Anthony. The tasks will take him to the far reaches of Baltimore, lead him to a Beautiful and Unattainable Women, and change the way he sees his past, present and future.

12 Things To Do Before You Crash & Burn is a very quick read, taking me only about an hour. But it’s also a bit of a dull read. The story revolves around James “Hercules” Martino spending the summer after his father’s death at his uncle’s house. To keep him busy, Herc’s uncle gives him a list of 12 things to do in his boring Baltimore suburb, but Herc’s preoccupied with a girl he barely spoke to on his train ride from his hometown in NYC.

As far as plot goes, 12 Things To Do Before You Crash & Burn is somewhat lackluster. It’s a good book for reluctant readers, and definitely geared more towards a male audience, but Herc’s list of 12 things lacks purpose. He goes here , there, and chases this idea of a girl everywhere, but I never felt the connection as to why. Things just happen, but they don’t seem to matter.

The story behind Herc’s nickname is a nice touch and adds some depth to the main character, but all in all, 12 Things To Do Before You Crash & Burn remains a rather slow and predictable book. If you’re looking for something to read quickly, in one sitting, then this is a good one to pick up. Proimos injects some good humor that many readers will eat up, so if simple, teen male read is what you’re in the mood for, this one will certainly satisfy.

Opening line: There is a jar of pickles. ~ pg. 1

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it.

Description (Taken from Goodreads):
Before SANTA was SANTA, he was North, Nicholas St. North—a daredevil swordsman whose prowess with double scimitars was legendary. Like any swashbuckling young warrior, North seeks treasure and adventure, leading him to the fiercely guarded village of Santoff Claussen, said to be home to the greatest treasure in all the East, and to an even greater wizard, Ombric Shalazar. But when North arrives, legends of riches have given way to terrors of epic proportions! North must decide whether to seek his fortune…or save the village.

When our rebellious hero gets sucked into the chaos (literally), the fight becomes very personal. The Nightmare King and his evil Fearlings are ruling the night, owning the shadows, and sending waves of fear through all of Santoff Clausen. For North, this is a battle worth fighting...and, he’s not alone. There are five other Guardians out there. He only has to find them in time.

Nicholas St. North and the Nightmare King is a fun and new explanation about the origins of Santa Claus. It has something for everyone, both those who celebrate Christmas, and those who do not. There’s fighting, action, magic, invention, and some captivating descriptions about light and dark and good and bad.

The purity and innocence that comes with childhood really plays an important role in this swashbuckling adventure. North, the Santa Claus figure, is dashing and roguish and nothing like the Santa we think of now, but children will love to see him in this new light. Everything about the story is special and holds this sense of enchantment that will charm even the most reluctant readers.

While the story focuses on Santa Claus, it doesn’t go into any sort of religious background. Instead, Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, taps into the magic that comes with the holiday season and the childhood wonderment that this time of the year invokes. It’s a dreamlike story that will delight readers and enchant them with a new way of thinking of their dear Santa Claus.

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it.

Description (Taken from Goodreads):
This is an intriguing YA urban fantasy in the tradition of Holly Black and Wicked Lovely. Set in New Zealand, Ellie's main concerns at her boarding school are hanging out with her best friend Kevin, her crush on the mysterious Mark, and her paper deadline. That is, until a mysterious older woman seems to set her sights on Kevin, who is Maori, and has more than just romantic plans for him. In an effort to save him, Ellie is thrown into the world of Maori lore, and eventually finds herself in an all-out war with mist dwelling Maori fairy people called the patupaiarehe who need human lives to gain immortality.

The strong, fresh voice of the narrator will pull readers in, along with all the deliciously scary details: the serial killer who removes victim's eyes; the mysterious crazy bum who forces a Bible on Ellie telling her she needs it; handsome, mysterious Mark who steals the Bible from her and then casts a forgetting charm on her. All of this culminates in a unique, incredible adventure steeped with mythology, Maori fairies, monsters, betrayal, and an epic battle.

Guardian of the Dead is not quite the book it looks or sounds like it would be, but it is full of New Zealand-based mythology and a backstory of folklore that more than entertains. I wasn’t really sure what to expect going in, so when weird things started happening and the explanations began to unfold, I was pleasantly surprised. And interested. If you know nothing about New Zealand culture/history/folklore, then be prepared for an overflow of information.

Which is both good and bad. It certainly keeps the reader enthralled, but it can be too much at times. It became a little difficult to keep the folklore tales straight and even understand some of them. But if you can stick with it, then you’ll come out with a very complete and captivating story.

My one major issue with the book was the main character. Ellie has all the makings of a very strong female character: she’s a bit of a loner, but has a good best friend; she’s intelligent, a little snappy, funny, and abrasive, but then she’s uber self-conscious and even self-hating. I understand that she may be uncomfortable with her weight, but she goes on, throughout the entire book, whining about how fat she is and comparing herself to other, gorgeous, thin girls. It made me hate her a little.

That being said, Guardian of the Dead, still has a lot to offer. The twists are very good, the characters (aside from self-hating main character) interesting – I wish we saw more of Ellie’s best friend Kevin – and the folklore something I’ve never heard about before. Karen Healey brings New Zealand to the reader and makes us a part of her fantasy, but entirely based in reality, world.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Michelle Warren is the author of Wander Dust, the first book in The Seraphina Parrish Trilogy. She didn’t travel the road to writer immediately. First, she spent over a decade as professional illustrator and designer. Her artistic creativity combined with her love of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy led her to write her first YA novel. Michelle loves reading and traveling to places that inspire her to create. She resides in Maryland, in a historic Baltimore row-home, with her wonderful husband.

The cover for Wander Dust is absolutely gorgeous and eye-catching. Did you come up with the design or have a great deal of input in its creation?

Thank you! Yes, I’m a full-time designer and illustrator, so I designed the cover, book trailer, and all the marketing materials for Wander Dust.

Wander Dust’s description mentions a fantasy world. Would you be able to tell us a bit about it without revealing anything too spoilery?

Wander Dust is science fiction based story with quite a bit of magical elements. I guess you could call it sci-fantasy. There are fantastic underground lairs, statues that come to life, machines that see the past, machines that steal your dreams, and land that folds over people and catapults them through wormholes. There is quite a lot of imagery to enjoy, wound around an exciting story.

These are just a few of the many reasons people need to read this bookl!

This is your debut book, but have you always been a writer or had the desire to be a writer?

Writing a novel was never in my life plan. As a child, I rarely ever read without a fight. I have dyslexia and struggled with reading all of my child and teen years. It wasn’t until after college that I discovered that I loved reading.

Fast forward thirteen years and a thousand novels later, I saw an interview with an author. She mentioned that to escape her everyday world, she would make up stories in her head. This idea fascinated me. I’m sure this is no breakthrough to a writer, but it seemed like a fun idea, a new way to release my creativity. I started playing with some story ideas in my mind. I never intended to do anything but keep them in my head. Occasionally, I would sketch the scenes in a notebook. I did this for almost a year. Not long after, the recession hit my home. With the new stress, I found myself needing even more of an escape, so I started writing. When I wrote, I acted the characters out, sketched the surroundings, and used photos of my previous travels as inspiration.

Even then, I did not consider publishing. My sister, Tabitha, read the book and loved it. She spent almost a year convincing me to publish.

Yay for encouraging siblings!

We all love a good romance, so I must ask: can you tell us anything about this mysterious, stalker boy? Anything at all? Pretty please?

Well, I think I should let the readers discover him. I will just say that when you finally get to know the Stalker and the reason for his strange behavior, he becomes very swoon-worthy.

I hope this makes everyone want to run out and read Wander Dust asap :)

Strange dreams leave her with very real injuries and there’s a dark tattoo weaving its way up her arms. The guy she thought she could fall in love with just told her he’s only half-human—oh, and same goes for her. And she keeps hearing a distant fluttering of wings.

Violet Eden is having a very bad 17th birthday.

But if angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…

Monday, December 5, 2011

Kelley was born and raised in central California, where she still resides with her lovely wife, daughter, and an abundance of pets. (Although she does fantasize about moving across the globe to Ireland.) She has a fascination with bells, adores all things furry – be them squeaky, barky or meow-y – is a lover of video games, manga and anime, and likes to pretend she’s a decent photographer. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or maybe a mermaid.

Within young adult, she enjoys writing and reading a variety of genres from contemporary with a unique twist, psychological thrillers, paranormal/urban fantasy and horror. She loves stories where character development takes center stage.*Bio taken from Kelley's Website

In case you missed it, my glowing review of HUSHED went up yesterday. Read on for Kelley's guest post!

The Girls I Knew

I’ve been asked if the characters in HUSHED are based off of someone I know. At first, my answer was “No.” But the more and more I thought about it, the more I’ve realized that Vivian is, in fact, a manifestation of many girls I knew in high school.

I had a very close friend who met a lot of guys on the phone chat lines (which were all the rage at the time). They were older guys in their twenties, while we were 15 or 16. Every week, it seemed, this friend had a new guy she was so in love with. They stuck around long enough to sleep with her, and vanished, never to return a phone call again. After being friends with her for years, anytime she came to me to talk about her newest guy, I’d give a dry response of, “Have you learned his name yet?”

I spent years telling her she was worth more than sleazy guys wanting to use her.

I spent years telling her, “What do you think a twenty-something-year-old guy wants with someone our age? It’s sure not love.”

And, for years, when she came over in tears because yet another boy had broken her heart, I hugged her and told her everything would be all right.

Because what else could I do?

These kinds of girls are suffering from a severe lack of self-confidence, so eager to hear a guy say “I love you” that they’ll believe it no matter how unrealistic it might be. I heard them be called ‘sluts’ and easy, but I knew better. (No one is immune from bullying, are they?)

It’s frustrating to be on the outside, looking in. Seeing the answer right in front of you and being unable to get through. Unfortunately, I had a few other friends like this, too. I never knew what to do for any of them except give my honesty, which resulted in many fights and hurtful comments flung in my direction: “You’re frigid,” “You don’t understand,” “If you had a boyfriend, you’d get it.”

I grew apart from those girls. I wish I’d known how to help them, but maybe the power had to come from them and not from an outside source.

The same rings true with Vivian who was, perhaps, my frustration and sadness that I could never fix the things broken in my friends. Vivian could’ve been more and she wasn’t...but it wasn’t the fault of anyone but herself.

If you’re one of those girls, or if you know one (many of us seem to), remind yourself—or them—that they’re worth more.

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another—Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer’s committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn’t get what she wants… And what she wants is Evan’s death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.

Praise for Hushed:

'Kelley York delivers in this impressive debut. I was at the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next! Bottom line, this was unputdownable!!!' --- YA Fantasy Guide ---

'How exciting that we live in a time when gay teen protagonists can be just as screwed up as straight ones -- and their stories just as creepy!' --- Brent Hartinger, award-winning author of Geography Club and Shadow Walkers ---

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another—Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer’s committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn’t get what she wants… And what she wants is Evan’s death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.

Hushed is this insane, in the mind of a killer, thriller that both YA readers and adult readers will devour. It has the perfect combination of, suspense, what!? moments, and a sizzling romance that burns right off the pages.

Archer, the main character and maybe not so great guy, has this innate darkness about him that is just a little terrifying. He comes off as a sociopath, but then we see the side of him that cares. That really, truly, cares; about Vivian, about his mother and Vivian’s mother, and about the new guy Evan. It’s this contrast in his character that makes Archer so intriguing. He becomes this enigma that is tantalizing to riddle out.

As creepy as Archer can be, there’s also something about him that is loveable – that will make readers root for him and for his happiness, despite the terrible things he’s done. It’s very easy to see him as the bad guy, but even easier to see him as a victim. I credit Kelley York’s astounding writing and character development because as bad as Archer may be, York makes sure we know there is much worse out there.

And that much worse just might be Vivian. She is someone to loathe and I found myself angry at Archer for caring so much; but I got it. His love for her stems from a deep, childhood friendship that he cannot fathom breaking. Mirroring Vivian’s wild and unpredictable personality, is Evan; who is good and kind and solid. I was as captivated by him as Archer is. Archer’s interactions with Vivian and Evan are so opposing that it makes for this fire and ice feeling throughout the novel. York is a master at creating these complicated and convoluted relationships that are unhealthy on some levels and destructive on others.

Hushed is as much a psychological thriller as it is a love story and that is a testament to the talent that Kelley York possesses. For every disturbing scene or thought, there is one that is steamy and rife with sexual tension. The plot unfolds in unimaginable ways, while maintaining this realistically messed up driving force. I loved every minute of it.

Sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby has sucker-punched her last classmate. Fed up with her punkish, wild behavior, her parents ship her off to upstate New York to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort’s true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure.

He’s a Grim Reaper. And he’s going to teach her the family business.

Lex quickly assimilates into the peculiar world of Croak, a town populated entirely by reapers who deliver souls from this life to the next. Along with her infuriating yet intriguing partner Driggs and a rockstar crew of fellow Grim apprentices, Lex is soon zapping her Targets like a natural born Killer.

Yet her innate ability morphs into an unchecked desire for justice—or is it vengeance?—whenever she’s forced to Kill a murder victim, craving to stop the attackers before they can strike again. So when people start to die—that is, people who aren’t supposed to be dying, people who have committed grievous crimes against the innocent—Lex’s curiosity is piqued. Her obsession grows as the bodies pile up, and a troubling question begins to swirl through her mind: if she succeeds in tracking down the murderer, will she stop the carnage—or will she ditch Croak and join in?

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Description (Taken from Goodreads):
Fourteen-year-old Stark McClellan (nicknamed Stick because he’s tall and thin) is bullied for being “deformed” – he was born with only one ear. His older brother Bosten is always there to defend Stick. But the boys can’t defend one another from their abusive parents.

When Stick realizes Bosten is gay, he knows that to survive his father's anger, Bosten must leave home. Stick has to find his brother, or he will never feel whole again. In his search, he will encounter good people, bad people, and people who are simply indifferent to kids from the wrong side of the tracks. But he never loses hope of finding love – and his brother.

Andrew Smith has a knack for creating unforgettable characters in astounding situations. He refuses to hold back with his storytelling and gives the reader characters that go through gritty, raw, and oftentimes, difficult and traumatic happenings. Stick is no exception to that.

Stark McClellan, known as Stick to most because of his incredible height, is a fourteen year old living in hell. He was born with one ear into an abusive family and has a self-loathing that’s heartbreaking and an innocence reminiscent of Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Stick’s only salvation comes in the form of his brother, Bosten, and his best friend Emily. He has this undeniable love for both of them, despite his constant hatred for himself.

The plot advances slowly, but with such precision and in such unnervingly painful ways that it’s impossible to put down. Stick and Bosten suffer and suffer and then suffer some more. They aren’t loved by their parents; they aren’t protected by the other adults around them. They have each other, and Emily and Bosten’s maybe boyfriend Buck, but that isn’t enough – not when Stick isn’t even whole and Bosten can barely manage to get by; not when they walk through their front door and fear the worst.

Instantly, I was captivated by these two boys and their harsh circumstances. I was taken by their struggles and wanted to protect them both. Stick’s matter of fact thinking and childlike wonderment invoke this undeniable need to shield him – from his father, from his mother, from all the bad things in the world that could hurt him. I loved him, dearly. I loved Bosten. I cared about Buck. I wished Dahlia could have been there from the beginning. And I adored Emily.

This book, these characters – they aren’t just mere words on paper – they come to life. The occasional change in formatting highlights the way Stick hears the world around him and helps the reader feel the story even more. Andrew Smith is a master at creating vivid stories with as much hope as there is heartbreak and I will continue to look forward to each and every novel he writes.

Opening line: They call me Stick. ~ pg. 5Favorite lines/passages (this first one is even more affecting when you read the book):

On a Friday
before Saint Patrick’s Day,
Emily Lohman planted a miracle in me.

When I woke up
when I woke up

in the morning
my chains were loose. ~ pgs. 248-249

And another one:

Bosten and I could never let that sea

separate and drown us.

We were all we ever had. ~ pg. 282

As there is always someone who creates a big stir, here's a fair warning - there's plenty of foul language and sex talk in the book. It didn't bother me and I don't see it bothering most YA readers, but it's there

*This review is my honest opinion and I received no monetary compensation from it.